During 17-19 September, US-based retail events organiser Shoptalk held its annual Shoptalk Fall conference in Chicago. Industry leaders gathered for keynotes, panels and interactive sessions exploring themes ranging from agentic AI to retail media to the impact of the Trump administration’s new tariff regime. Euromonitor International was in attendance and is pleased to share some of the most important takeaways.
Retailers grapple with tariff pressures
At the Shoptalk Spring 2025 event, which was held in Las Vegas in March, the potential impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs was one of the most discussed topics in the corridors of the conference hall. However, the issue was rarely touched upon on stage. At Shoptalk Fall, things were very different, with the Trump tariffs being one of the topics highlighted in the very first session of the conference. In the session, titled “From Tariffs to Tactics: Scenario Planning in a Volatile World”, Jamie Bragg – the chief supply chain officer and executive vice president of US-based apparel retailer Tailored Brands – discussed the impact of tariffs on his company’s business. During the first Trump administration, new tariffs were focused squarely on China. While this certainly caused some issues, managing supply chains remained relatively straightforward. Now, however, as the second Trump administration widens the focus of its tariffs to include most of the rest of the world, supply chain planning has become much more difficult. For example, prior to 2025, Tailored Brands made the decision to move much of its manufacturing capacity from Mexico to India. With the Trump administration’s announcement of a 50% tariff on most goods imported from India on 27 August 2025, this decision suddenly looks much less prescient. As Bragg succinctly put it, “A tweet can now derail a quarter.”
Agentic AI could remake retail as we know it
The second day of Shoptalk Fall highlighted another development that threatens to disrupt the retail landscape: the advent of agentic AI. AI agents can independently choose the best actions to achieve goals set by humans. This means that agentic AI has the potential to purchase products autonomously on consumers’ behalf. By integrating AI agents into their platforms – as US-based software firm Perplexity has done with its AI agent Comet Assistant – the leading generative AI players are now beginning to envision a future where they become major players in retail in their own right.
Source: Euromonitor International
The retail industry is not blind to this threat. In a session titled “Levelling Up on Search in the AI Era”, Ranjeet Bhosale – the Vice President of Digital Product Management for US-based hypermarket operator Target – stated that his company is preparing for a future in which “agent-to-agent” e-commerce becomes the norm. Under this model, retailers will field a web presence in which their own agentic AI speaks to directly to consumers’ AI agents to encourage purchases. Such a model would flip retail e-commerce on its head by deprioritising websites and apps designed to attract human shoppers. Instead, under an agent-to-agent model, humanity would be almost incidental to the entire shopping process. This possibility is a sobering one to contemplate for many retailers.
Shoptalk Fall bids adieu to Chicago
During Shoptalk Fall, the organisers announced that next year’s edition of the conference would not be located in Chicago, where it has been held since its inception. Instead, in 2026, Shoptalk Fall would head to Nashville, Tennessee. While the relocation promises to inject a dose of energy into the conference, the Midwest will be sad to see one of the nation’s premier retail conferences decamp to warmer climes.
Read our article The Definitive End of the De Minimis Tariff Exemption for more analysis of the impact of the Trump administration’s tariff policy on US retail.